Summary
I ’m presently watchingSmallvillefor the first time , and season 1 , sequence 7 , " Craving , " featuring Amy Adams as a guest star , intimately made me want to turn back watching . The episode ’s main plot line follows Adams ' Jodi Melville , an adiposis and strong-arm schoolfellow ofTom Welling ’s Clark Kentwho start a new diet using only veggie grown from her father ’s nursery . However , since the veggie are grown from soil laced with meteor rock , Jodi ’s thirst becomes insatiable , and she cease up eating the fat from animals and humans , turn her into the monster of the week .
To be clear , I do n’t believe the writers of this instalment had any ill intentions . Nor do I mean the actors involved - including Adams herself - are to blame for this small detail inSmallville’sSuperman origin story . I remember the understanding " Craving " falls aside , and peculiarly does n’t hold up 23 years afterwards , has to do with the manner the floor is tackled and the changes in our public perceptual experience of body profitableness . As a upshot , thisepisode ofSmallvilleseason 1sticks out like a sore thumb amid episode that are nostalgic , but not quite so glaringly out of footfall with the current culture .
Smallville ’s initial scoundrel - of - the - week structure mean the show had many Edgar Albert Guest stars with bit parts , some of whom go on to bigger superhero function .
Custom Image By Yeider Chacon
Amy Adams' Smallville Storyline Shouldn’t Have Been A “Monster of the Week” Plot
Fatphobia, Eating Disorders And Negative Self-Image Are Too Complex For A One-Off Episode
I can read the desire to harness subject that are significant to teenager in a show likeSmallville , which is ultimately a coming of old age report . However , with " Craving , " it felt like the writer bit off more than they could chew ( pun not intended).There ’s simply not enough time in a 42 - second episode to truly unpack Jodi ’s body image issuesand the emotional effect of her dieting turning her into a lusus naturae . As a result , the plot is super underdeveloped and whatever lessons of organic structure favorableness the writers might ’ve hop to include are timeworn at best .
The real - life struggles of teen girls are not fodder for cheap entertainment .
The message of " Craving " seems to be that everybody should just jazz themselves , butSmallvillefails to really unpack how Jodi got to the percentage point of desperation that lead to her becoming a monster . There are attempts , like the scenes where Jodi ’s cut out image of manakin ' soundbox from a cartridge holder and when she ’s browbeat in the hallway , but these do n’t truly show the scope of social air pressure teenage girls confront to be slight . As someone who was a adolescent girl in the ' 00s , I remember that it was invariant and permeating in nearly every spell of medium from that time .
It ’s impossible to fit out the entirety of the teen girl experience into a single episode , andSmallville’sattempts to do so come off clumsily , ensue in an instalment that ’s cringey and unneeded . Jodi ’s plot line in " Craving " does n’t progress Clark ’s Superman ancestry story , so it feels extraneous in the telescope of the with child show , which only piddle its attack at tackle such sensitive issue find needless . The real - life struggles of teen girls are not fodder for sleazy amusement , and it ’s a low-down item thatSmallvilletried to depict them for a simple-minded " ogre of the week " plot .
23 Years Later, Smallville’s “Craving” Episode Doesn’t Hold Up
It’s A Sign Of The Fatphobic Times
Quite a lot has changed in the years since " Craving " transmit in 2001 , especially surrounding how plus - sized character are limn in media . Over the last two 10 , there has been a get-up-and-go toward trunk positiveness and toleration of all kind of torso types , with an increase bit of movie , TV show and marketing campaign showcasing a variety of bodies . While fatphobia is far from uproot from our culture , " Craving " is a bleak monitor of just how bad things used to be , specially in the former 2000s - and how far we ’ve arrive .
It ’s also become far less common for fragile actors to wear fat suit or other prosthetics in ordering to dally heavier characters that undergo a transmutation .
I ca n’t guess an sequence like " Craving " would make it onto TV screen today - not because teen are n’t still dealing with eubstance ikon issue or eating upset , but because the position around such things have changed . Perhaps thanks to the advent of societal media , telly writers and showrunners are more cognisant of the impact episodes like " Craving " have on witness , both positive and negative . On social media , viewers can talk over the path TV has helped or hurt them , andin the last 10 year there have been conversation about the picture of positive - sized characters .
One such conversation take a hop up in 2018 around the Netflix releaseInsatiable , which follow a plot line of an fleshy teenager getting thin . At the time of firing , it receive widespread backlash for the offensive and insulting plot line , with many witness speaking out about it on social media . The reaction toInsatiable , and the discussions about how plus - sized theatrical role are depicted in media , was arguably the first of its kind , andI’d like to believe ( however naively ) they lead to some positive changes in Hollywood . At the very least , I ’m hopeful no one will hear to do an installment like " Craving " or a show likeInsatiableagain . get Hollywood find out fromSmallville’smistake .
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